Hope Continually -- Psalm 71:14: Field Trip: Thomas K. Woolen Mill

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Field Trip: Thomas K. Woolen Mill

The last part of the Willamette Heritage Center that we toured was the Thomas K. Woolen Mill. The following photos are from the inside of the mill.

The Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, founded in 1889 by Thomas Lister Kay, was one of the numerous textile mills that operated throughout the Valley. These textile mills were critical components of Oregon’s economic stability. The Mill produced fine woolen blankets and fabric for more than seventy years and was managed by four generations of the Kay family – a legacy still perpetuated at the world-renowned Pendleton Woolen Mills, owned and operated by Kay’s descendants.

The Mill closed in 1962 and was subsequently purchased by the Mission Mill Museum Association, a private, non-profit organization formed in 1964. It is the only woolen mill museum west of Missouri and has one of the few water-powered turbines in the Pacific Northwest that is still capable of generating electricity from the millrace. Displays of the original 19th and 20th-century machinery illustrate industrial wool processing, and images throughout the Mill capture the stories of the lives of the individuals and families who worked at the Mill since its founding.

The first two floors of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill building are devoted to telling the story of woolen processing, on its journey from fleece to fabric.

Visitors can view machinery used for carding, spinning, and weaving wool on the 2nd Floor. The Finishing Room tells the story of burling and mending, fulling, napping, shearing, and final inspections.

The following photos are from the Dye House.

During the Mill's operation, dyeing was done in a series of interconnected sheds and buildings. Today's Dye House is a reconstruction using an original wall on the south side.

The PGE Waterpower Exhibit tells the story of early power generation in Salem.

The history of waterpower dates to the 1840s and the Oregon Methodist Mission. Missionaries harnessed the energy from Mill Creek for a sawmill and grist mill.

As the community grew and the need for power expanded, the Salem Ditch, a canal that increased water flows into Mill Creek from the Santiam River, was surveyed and dug near Stayton. Increased water flow powered many industries and made possible the man-made mill race which powered the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill and its predecessors. A turbine turned drive shafts, belts, pulleys, and gears to operate the machines the mill needed. In later years a generator was added, also powered by the turbine. The generator converted water power into electricity to provide lighting for the Woolen Mill. Later electricity was used to enhance mechanical power during times of high production.

Wayne Mentzer worked as Millwright at the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, even after the mill closed and turned into a museum. As Millwright, Metnzer was in charge of keeping everything running and in order. In the Machine Shop, you can see belts driving woodworking equipment that would have been used to make repairs around the mill, a blacksmithing forge, and the chair and ledge Wayne used to eat lunch every day with his trained pet mice.